Almanac

Menlo Park police investigate four cases of check fraud

by Sandy Brundage

After an unidentified man cashed a $900 check at Bank of the West, the bank later discovered the check was fraudulent, according to Menlo Park police.

"It appears that the suspect had a check made up with the victim's account information and wrote the check out to himself to cash it," police spokeswoman Nicole Acker said. "The suspect forged the signature of the victim. The suspect did not have an account with the bank."

The bank, located at 701 Santa Cruz Ave., reported the fraud to police around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23. Three similar incidents — occurring on Sept. 12, 2012; and Jan. 7 and Jan. 16, 2013 — came to light as police started investigating, according to the report. No further information was available at press time.

Police ask that anyone with information about these cases call Officer Victoria Trask at 330-6300 or the anonymous tip line at 330-3695.